


Chicago

by sewn



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: M/M, Pre-Slash, Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-13
Updated: 2019-02-13
Packaged: 2019-10-27 14:39:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17768678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sewn/pseuds/sewn
Summary: The Magical Travels of Jace and Simon in the Amazing World of Indie Music.





	Chicago

**Author's Note:**

  * For [akaparalian](https://archiveofourown.org/users/akaparalian/gifts).



> This doesn't quite hit your prompts, but when I saw "didn't know they were dating," for some reason this is what popped into my head. Hopefully it's not too far-off.

“This is stupid,” Jace mutters.

“You haven’t even heard them.” Simon elbows him forward in the queue. “We’re not even _in_ yet.”

The line down the creaky stairs into a cellar club moves at a sluggish pace. Jace feels decidedly out of place with his leather jacket, surrounded by lanky hipster kids in long coats, short jeans, and hats that are definitely too small. He can’t believe he agreed to this, but then – Simon can be weirdly persuasive when he wants to.

It all started in the bar. A song came on that had Simon perk up and sing along.

“What?” he asked. “Everyone loves this song.”

Jace scowled at him.

“You don’t?” Simon looked curious. “Wait, you – you’ve never heard this song before?”

Jace sighed. “No,” he said. “Should I have? I don’t know who this is.”

“I can’t believe it,” Simon said. “You’ve never heard of Sufjan Stevens.” He sounded almost disappointed. “We _have_ to fix this. You can’t continue to live like this.”

“Wait, what,” Jace said.

“I need to educate you about music. Stat.” Simon had moved from disappointment to determination in under five seconds.

So, the next weekend, Simon drags Jace – very much against his will – to a gig. Once they’ve waited in the line for what feels like an eternity (“That would be cheating. And it’s part of the experience,” Simon says when Jace suggests they walk in invisible), they have to make their way through a minuscule cloakroom, squeezed between people. The room itself is just as full, and the stage tiny.

“You’ll thank me later,” Simon says. “They’re sure to blow up next year. You can say you saw them back in the early days.”

It’s noisy, so Jace doesn’t say anything, but he promises himself silently not to enjoy the show.

The band turns out to be… not terrible.

It’s definitely very _Simon_ , whatever that is: a bunch of college kids with synths and guitars. Jace has to admit he likes a couple of the songs, even if it’s not exactly what he’d put on at home.

“This better be a one-off thing,” Jace mutters afterwards, when they’ve resurfaced and breathing in misty late-night air.

“Oh no,” Simon says. “This will be a many-off thing.”

**

The next gig is at a fancier club, the audience filled with glittery girls and boys.

“Isn’t this a little… pop-y?” Jace asks. Simon gives him a look.

“Yes? Jace, I _make_ pop music.” He sighs. “We need to work on your genre knowledge.”

The performer this time is a young woman in just as much as glitter as her fans. For all her glam, once she’s down at her piano she bangs at it with the force of a pissed-off demon, singing her lungs out.

Jace can’t help but be impressed.

“Well?” Simon asks eagerly afterwards.

Jace shrugs. “I guess it was alright.”

**

By the third weekend, Jace concludes that Simon is serious about this project.

Over the next few Saturdays, they visit all of Simon’s favorite indie clubs, ranging from dingy, closet-sized holes to remodeled theatres. The music isn’t always great, but Jace has to admit he likes a lot of the artists. Simon seems to like the kind of music where you hear the lyrics, see the singer pouring their heart out on the stage. Jace has never thought about that very much before – music for him is about the rhythm, something to have on in the background.

If nothing else, it’s a change of pace.

**

“Oh hey,” says a red-haired girl who bumps into Jace in the crowd. Simon has disappeared somewhere – he knows someone in this band and wants to chat – leaving Jace lost in the sea.

“Hi?” he says. He’s not sure if he should know her.

“I’m Chelsea,” she says. “You’re Simon’s boyfriend? Jay, right?”

Jace stares at her for a few seconds. “What,” he says. “No, I, that’s –”

Chelsea is already drifting away with the stream of people. “Say hi for me!”

When Simon returns, Jace wants to ask him why his friends think they are dating, but Simon is so excited he doesn’t want to ruin the mood. It doesn’t matter what some random human thinks anyway.

**

“Am I…” Jace isn’t sure how to phrase this. “Do you ever take anyone else to a show with you?”

“Hmm,” Simon says. “I guess not? I haven’t really hung out with my old friends that much. You know, the whole –” he gestures at himself, “– thing. It’s nice to bump into them in the night, though.”

“But just that we’re clear, when you go out, you always take _me_ with you? Only me?”

“Um, yeah? That’s sort of been the point of this grand adventure of ours? The Magical Travels of Jace and Simon in the Amazing World of Indie Music.”

Jace sighs. “Don’t you think your friends might get the wrong idea when every time they see you, you’re with me?”

Simon considers this for a moment.

“Oh,” he says. Then he shrugs. “Well, I guess they just think I’m lucky.”

**

The next Saturday, it’s snowing for the first time, the kind of horizontal attack of cold wet sludge that has to be a punishment for all of humanity’s bad deeds.

Jace has to draw the line somewhere. “We are not going to play humans in that weather,” he says.

“But we’ll break the tradition,” Simon pleads. “And it’s not like we can catch a cold.”

Jace doesn’t budge, though, but he feels a little sorry.

“Alright,” he says. “Why don’t we, I don’t know, listen to your records? You have records, right?” He is sure he has seen an old-fashioned turntable at Simon’s place.

Simon brightens up immediately. “That’s a good, no, that’s a great idea.” He’s already pulling on his coat and ushering Jace out of the bar, where they’ve started to meet before going to the shows. “I knew this was working.”

So, they end up at Simon’s, in the middle of piles of vinyl that Simon has pulled out from his shelves. He flips through the records, muttering to himself. “Daniel Johnston, you’re not ready for that… Joanna Newsom, ditto… Elliot Smith, _definitely not_.” He looks up. “What do _you_ want to hear?”

Jace feels put on the spot. “Um,” he says. “What about that song everyone loves? Suf…”

“– jan Stevens!” Simon finishes for him. He flips through the rest until he finds what he’s looking for. He spends some time finding the right track, drops the needle, and a barrage of strings and drums comes out of the speakers, before giving way to breathy, sort of shy vocals.

Jace coughs at the first line. “ _I fell in love again._ ”

He looks at somewhere that is not Simon. They listen to the song in silence, though Simon hums along quietly. When it’s over, he turns the volume down.

“Well?” he says. “Do you love it now? Or has this musical expedition been for nothing?”

Jace looks at Simon, who is sitting cross-legged on the floor, grinning. He swallows, feeling weirdly like grinning himself.

“I guess I do now.”


End file.
